Post Office to close and franchise 37 Crown offices with loss of up to 300 jobs

Louise Cooper

The Post Office is to close and franchise 37 Crown office branches, with up to 300 staff set to lose their jobs.

A further 127 specialist roles are also set to be lost, the Communications and Workers Union (CWU) has said.

Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, said: “The latest round of closures is further evidence that the Post Office is in crisis and that the board of the company, backed by the government, is simply pursuing a strategy of slash and burn.

“Today’s announcement comes less than three weeks after the closure of a major government consultation on the future of the Post Office and sticks two fingers up to everyone who took part in this. 75,000 postcards were returned to the government signed by members of the public calling for an end to the closure and franchise programme – the Post Office and the government have completely ignored their views.

“While the government spent yesterday talking about building a shared society today’s announcement pressing on with the destruction of yet another public service shows we are reaching the point where we will have little left to share. The CWU will not accept this and we will be stepping up our political and industrial campaign to fight for the future of the Post Office.”